Learning

After bidding farewell to the old Giant Shan Teng, Gao Jing climbed back onto Shan Guo'er's shoulder and continued touring the Mountain Stronghold.

He expressed his gratitude for Shan Teng's generosity in a way the other party could understand.

But he did not take even a single splinter of Little-Leaf Red Sandalwood.

Someone petty-minded would surely have wanted to pack up every last piece of premium material and take it all away.

After all, to Mountain Giants, this wood was simply worthless.

Yet Gao Jing was not so narrow-minded.

Even if he were allowed to rummage through the sandalwood on the ground, how much could he possibly carry away?

At most, a hundred or two hundred jin.

After several round trips through the teleportation, Gao Jing had learned that the supplies he could carry with him were limited. Anything beyond that limit could not be brought over or sent back.

The storage space that had appeared after the Copper Anchor upgraded solved this problem to a great extent.

But Gao Jing would never easily reveal the existence of the storage space in front of others.

Especially in the Great World.

Because here, he was far too weak—so weak that even any random brat from the Mountain Tribe could easily crush him to death.

Gao Jing simply could not imagine what consequences the Copper Anchor's secret would bring him if it were exposed!

Even though the Mountain Tribe villagers looked simple and honest, Shan Guo'er was amusing, and the old Wizard Shan Yan was kindly disposed toward him.

He still must not put people's hearts to the test.

Gao Jing had understood that truth deeply from a very young age.

Most importantly, he could obtain what he wanted through safe and reliable means.

So there was no need to rush at all.

Of course, Gao Jing had not forgotten the debt he owed the Mountain Giants for saving him.

But one thing was one thing, and another was another.

He only needed to work hard to find a way to repay them.

No matter how long a mountain road was, there would come a time when it ended. The valley's exit appeared before Gao Jing's eyes.

The terrain ahead was extremely flat and open.

Yet at the mouth of the valley, it suddenly narrowed; "bottleneck" could not have described it more aptly.

A stockade wall more than a hundred meters high stretched across the valley entrance, serving as the village's barrier.

This enormous wall had been built from massive boulders and thousands upon thousands of logs, firmly guarding the valley's vital choke point.

Behind the wall stood even taller watchtowers, with Giants stationed atop them as guards.

Though in Gao Jing's eyes, both the wall and the watchtowers had been built rather crudely.

Their style matched the wooden houses above.

Still, the sense of security brought by such a solid, sturdy wall was something nothing else could replace.

"Hey-ha!"

"Kill!"

Twenty or thirty Giants clad in animal hides were diligently practicing martial skills in the open ground beneath the watchtowers.

They were clearly warriors of the Mountain Tribe. Every one of them was muscular and ferocious, their bronze skin gleaming in the sunlight, while crystal beads of sweat sparkled brilliantly.

The warriors swung stone axes, bone clubs, and other weapons, either practicing alone or sparring with one another.

The scene was quite intense.

"That's Big Brother Shan Tai..."

Shan Guo'er pointed at one of the tribal warriors and said proudly, "He's the most powerful Totem Warrior in our tribe!"

Gao Jing looked in the direction she was pointing.

Among all the tribal warriors, he was the tallest and strongest Giant.

He held a heavy, round stone ball in both hands, tossing it high and catching it like a basketball one moment, then rolling the astonishingly weighty ball across different parts of his body the next.

His movements were exceptionally nimble and skilled.

Gao Jing guessed that he was tempering some special technique.

He could not understand it, but it must have been very impressive.

Gao Jing also noticed that the upper body of this Totem Warrior was covered in intricate tattoos.

As he moved, the tattoo patterns shifted continuously, even creating the illusion that they were about to come alive and break free!

Bang!

Apparently bored of playing with it, the Totem Warrior named Shan Tai casually tossed the stone ball onto the ground.

Making the earth tremble!

The sheer force could only be described as terrifying.

At that moment, Shan Tai seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his head toward Gao Jing and Shan Guo'er.

Even from such a distance, Gao Jing could still see the sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.

The Totem Warrior bared his teeth in a grin and raised his thick arm in a wave.

Shan Guo'er waved back at him in response.

"Let's go back."

After greeting him, the little girl said to Gao Jing, "Don't disturb their practice."

Naturally, Gao Jing had no objection.

With that, they had finished touring the Mountain Tribe's stronghold.

Shan Guo'er brought Gao Jing back to the wooden house they had started from.

The moment they entered, Gao Jing was startled.

Every last one of the brats he had met earlier was inside.

There were also several children who looked older.

Everyone sat on the ground with a small wooden table in front of them.

Branches and wooden-grid sand trays sat atop the tables.

The large table Gao Jing had rested on last night had been moved aside. The old Wizard Shan Yan was sitting beside it.

To the Wizard's right stood a grayish-white stone slab ten meters wide and nearly twenty meters tall.

Gao Jing remembered that the slab had been propped against the wall last night.

A small table also stood empty at the spot closest to the stone slab.

"Grandpa!"

Shan Guo'er ran over and promptly sat down before the small table.

She set Gao Jing on the tabletop.

Gao Jing suddenly felt as though he had returned to his student days and was attending an early class!

Shan Yan nodded to him, then said, "Children, today I will teach you new Great Wilderness Script."

It really was class!

Gao Jing quickly sat up straight and adjusted the GoPro hanging from his shoulder.

Fortunately, he had come prepared and carried the GoPro with him for filming.

He had also specifically bought a dedicated audio accessory for the GoPro earlier, along with new memory cards and spare batteries.

They were proving useful now.

The old Wizard picked up a blackened charcoal stick and wrote the first character on the stone slab.

"Mountain. This is the character for 'mountain' in our Mountain Tribe!"

Gao Jing's attention was immediately captured.

He discovered that the Great Wilderness Script taught by the old Wizard shared the same wondrous resemblance as Chinese, the language he knew best.

Both were pictographic writing systems.

The Great Wilderness Script was ancient and stately, much like oracle bone script.

Under the effect of the Speech-Understanding Talisman, Gao Jing could completely understand the Great Wilderness Language.

He had an excellent memory and strong learning ability. Back in the day, he had been one of the top students in his class, so mastering the Great Wilderness Script, which was similar in type to Chinese, was not difficult for him.

The old Wizard was very considerate of Gao Jing's learning pace. The moment Gao Jing mastered one Great Wilderness character, he immediately taught him the next.

He paid no attention whatsoever to the other students, including his own little granddaughter.

With the GoPro recording everything, Gao Jing was not worried about falling behind. He studied with great relish.

The poor brats, however, were being tormented.

They clutched branches and scratched their heads over the wooden-grid sand trays, each one wearing a bitter, miserable expression.

Their learning ability was truly alarming.

And this was only the beginning.

Over the following days, Gao Jing studied Great Wilderness Script with the old Wizard in this wooden house every day.

He devoted most of his time to studying and rarely left the house.

Often forgetting food and sleep.

Until half a month later, the effect of the Speech-Understanding Talisman completely vanished.